Chapter 93: Foreign Races

When you haven't prepared yourself mentally, don't open a lid that's been gathering dust for ages.

Everyone underestimated the underground world's counterattack. Their history is actually far longer than the surface towns that have flourished in the past twenty years; their populations and ethnic groups have lived there for an unknown span of years.

"The grey goblin bank was gutted from the inside—a passage was opened from within the vault itself, and massive amounts of gold, magical metals, collectibles, and collateral were swept clean in one go. The losses must be astronomical, and they don't even dare publish the figures. Probably afraid of being targeted for more robberies."

This is the top headline, and the reason the news has spread so widely.

Some even say those underground creatures are short-sighted—doesn't this just force the adventurers above to go down and hunt for treasure?

"The two main underground entrances in the Yaxi District and the Beile District have not only suffered large-scale collapses, but also massive numbers of monsters."

Only now, if they want to go down, it probably won't be easy.

"In the fighting, there appeared not only various monsters from the underground ruins, but also ethnic groups that should have come from the underground world—the most obvious being dark elves and grey dwarves, along with large numbers of domesticated monsters. We even saw wyvern flocks among them." This is already faintly a war.

Before the kingdom was ready to move against the underground ruins, the ones who struck first were the underground world, which had been treated as a "ruin cluster."

At this moment, the "civilized people" on the surface had completely underestimated their opponents. Rumors of all sizes spread through every street and alley, especially to the exotic-race shops on Mage Street.

The civilized people never imagined this wasn't a hunt or a roundup, but an impending war. Our side still seemed to harbor the mentality of a picnic or a get-rich scheme, while the opponents who struck first were far more serious than you.

"We thought this was just a large-scale hunt—we'd send hunters, sentries, even legions down, then just wait for the results." This was most people's view, including Li En's party earlier.

"For them, this is their place of survival, their homeland."

What had become vaguely hostile was not merely the wild monsters underground, but more importantly the various ethnic groups of underground creatures.

Cultists, exiles, the intelligent races of the underground world, all manner of monsters—strangely mixed together—actually launched an attack first.

"But aren't we opposed to them? Our target is the Evil God." Some church higher-ups were baffled: we shouldn't have any conflict, right? We're just passing through to slay the Evil God—can't you just ignore us?

"You tell them—would they believe it?"

When a great army arrives at your homeland and says it's just passing through to hunt, would the locals believe it? Would those underground intelligent races have no reaction?

"Just passing through, not touching a single hair—say that again, do you believe this line of reasoning yourself?"

Consider the temperament of those nobles, mercenaries, and adventurers—once they actually reach the underground world's treasury, would they really just pass through? They never do business at a loss.

"Damn it, the Evil God has revived—won't they be done for too?" The more they said it, the less confident they became.

Someone finally found the key.

The underground seal was opened—would they be done for? They're not you beastfolk!

This is a secret known only to the upper echelons, but the more one knows, the harder it is to trust these foreign races.

That existence about to break free down below isn't a true Evil God at all—it's one of your beastfolk's Laozu Sect, a sworn nemesis with a deep blood feud against your beastfolk.

Once it emerges, it will definitely go straight after the beastfolk, even directly targeting your cities for a great purge—truly scouring this continent clean. Wouldn't these foreign races instead be clearing out living space for themselves?

The beastfolk's civilization had grown accustomed to "peace" for too long, never imagining that with just this slight stir, it would be those seemingly uninvolved parties who reacted the most.

"They may have been waiting for this day for a long time." From this moment on, perhaps the stance of all these foreign races must be called into question.

"Perhaps only we failed to foresee that the right to survive under the sunlight does not come without a price." Some, however, began to reflect on history.

As the person responsible, Princess Dai Niya, who had just gained new power, immediately suffered a heavy blow.

No one blamed her as the decision-maker, because the development of events was beyond everyone's expectations.

No one anticipated that what was supposed to be a routine "slaying of evil" would instantly turn those seemingly uninvolved, seemingly friendly "old friends" into enemies.

No one expected that the "prey" who should have been waiting obediently underground to be hunted would actually take the offensive.

"No, I should have seen it coming long ago. Foreign races have never been trustworthy. The land we live on now was originally theirs."

But Dai Niya, who had received royal education and inheritance, did not shirk responsibility.

She regarded it as a failure, a severe setback right at the very beginning.

"This isn't a hunt, it's a war—a war for the right to survive waged by us... us beastfolk (we call ourselves ARK) against all other races. This is the vanguard of the Demon Tide, but the other side couldn't hold back any longer."

The review of the attack was swift. The kingdom's foolishness, laxity, and complete lack of vigilance at this moment were laid bare in the loss tallies.

Several key entrances and exits were completely impassable; clearing the monsters near those passages alone would take a long time. And the richest bank on Mage Street was looted clean—they had clearly been watching it for a long time.

"... Uh, why is it so empty today?"

Li En, who had gone to Mage Street today to study, hadn't yet connected these events together.

He looked around—last time he came, all the shops were open; now several had closed for business.

The pedestrians on the road hurried past, seemingly wary and probing one another.

"They're not still hunting for me, are they..." Li En didn't think he was worth that much trouble, but he was still more careful.

He didn't loiter on the street either—always being late wouldn't do—and went straight to the great cathedral to continue his lessons.

And during the breaks, in the idle chatter among his classmates, he learned more about what had happened.

"Her Highness the Princess has ordered the screening, registration, and cataloguing of all foreign races." The children of nobles and great merchants were very well-informed.

"The dark elf and grey dwarf shops have all been sealed off—maybe they have a direct connection to the attack."

"What do you mean 'maybe'? Those grey goblins are already furious—they've put a bounty on the dark elves directly." In this world, money can buy the supernatural; the grey goblins definitely have the means.

Some foreign-race shops were sealed and shut down; others closed on their own to avoid attracting more trouble during this turbulent period.

During wartime, the thugs and ruffians who stir up racial and ethnic conflicts and extort shops under the banner of so-called "great righteousness" are hardly a rare occurrence.

"Then, hasn't the Princess's plan gone bankrupt from the start?"

"... Very likely. Just clearing out these entrances properly will probably take a lot of time."

The other side's calculation is also obvious: drag out the underground world's monsters to attack the surface, just to cause you trouble.

Blow up part of the passages to limit your advance speed.

In areas that can't be blown up, lure in massive numbers of monsters and powerful creatures to physically intercept them. Apparently, some passages have already seen manticores and hydra lizards.

"Does this even make sense? What's coming will come eventually. Since our kingdom has decided to launch the crusade, we won't just stop here." The apprentices buzzed with discussion, airing their own views.

This matter has become the top news of the past two days.

Most of them only now realized that there was actually a complete world beneath their feet.

"... Yes, it makes a lot of sense. For both sides, time is life." And Li En knew that dragging things out for a few months would likely be a severe blow to the Princess's plan.

But here, a small mishap occurred.

"Huh, the underground passage in the dock district is fine?" Soon, this news spread as well.

"That one might be controlled by the cultists, not in the hands of the outsiders. Or it could be—"

"—a trap."

The logic held, but with a complete, functional passage right before them, the status of the dock district's underground passage naturally soared.

For the situation in the dock district, especially for Dimon and his group who had begun running logistics operations, it was also good news.

And none of this was directly related to Li En at present.

After the lesson, Li En directly sought out Luo Yisi and continued asking questions.

The nature of these questions was highly specific, making it clear to the other that Li En was likely not far from mastering a first-circle spell—and from becoming a true apprentice mage.

Such progress was already remarkably impressive for a young mage, and it made Luo Yisi much more enthusiastic.

"Longstrider is indeed a solid spell choice. Most beginners favor flashy elemental magic, but in reality, spells that alter basic states are far more practical at low levels."

In low-level combat, running faster and striking harder is far more lethal than a tiny fireball or iceball.

Longstrider, a first-circle alteration spell, is also called "Long Step" or "Little Acceleration"—the nicknames alone reveal its purpose.

It grants a short-range speed boost, making you run faster.

That's all—its effect is simple and direct.

Most mages don't care about this spell; even many mid-level mages never learn it. But when Li En scanned the list, he spotted it immediately.

"No speed boots? I'll make my own!" For other casters, it's just a survival spell—with mediocre effects.

You still have to cast it yourself, and the speed increase is limited; if you have time to cast, there are far better survival spells to choose from.

But for Li En, catching up might just mean one slash.

That's why, in the dream, Li En specifically requested the learning memory of this spell.

Lord Lord Kuku didn't disappoint—he gave him far too much.

"Enough. Your understanding of this spell surpasses mine—far surpasses it. You're ready to begin mastering it. I hope you learn it quickly." Luo Yisi was genuinely surprised; Li En's grasp of the spell was classical, almost canonical, yet still flexible—clearly the work of a specialist master.

His expression grew even gentler. A true expert's first move reveals everything—this couldn't be explained by talent alone.

There was a good chance the man behind Li En was a magic master, or at least had studied the master's research notes.

Who among high-level mages would keep detailed notes on first-circle spells? That meant the notes were written specifically for him—how close must that relationship be?

Li En was also astonished by Lord Lord Kuku's mastery of this spell.

On one hand, Lord Lord Kuku was indeed a master of alteration (alchemy); on the other, he had deep practical experience in "greasing the soles."

Though the spell requires casting, once mastered, it can be reduced to a single "motion," and even combined into an escape combo—truly very useful.

Lord Lord Kuku had made countless improvements and innovations to this spell; Li En had fully taken them over and was now merely verifying them with modern mages.

The result? High praise. Lord Lord Kuku's insights had not aged—and confirmed that Li En was truly ready to master it.

"Don't trust me? Give me materials—I can make them! Speed boots! Not hard!" Yet Lord Lord Kuku himself seemed to have other ideas.

Li En merely replied, "Yeah, yeah, yeah." Who knew how long it would take if he handed it to Lord Lord Kuku—or how many accidents might occur along the way.

He chose this spell because he anticipated imminent combat and needed immediate combat readiness.

His paladin abilities were already a complete system; compared to starting a mage system from scratch, adding new spells as a supplement to his melee framework would better enhance his overall combat power.

And events soon proved his judgment correct.

(End of Chapter)